Big Ten Network covers Rutgers football practice

PISCATAWAY If any Rutgers football players needed any reminders of why they’re busy preparing for one of the most anticipated seasons in school history, all they needed to do was look to the sideline Thursday morning.
What they saw was a TV crew from the Big Ten Network and a renowned college football analyst for the channel that will begin broadcasting Scarlet Knights games this fall.

“I think the players know they’re here,’’ Rutgers football coach Kyle Flood said following his team’s fifth practice of the spring Thursday. “I make sure they know they’re here. And it’s exciting for to be able to perform in front of them.’’

Flood was particularly excited about coaching in front of Gerry DiNardo, a studio analyst for the Big Ten Network who coached three Division I-A programs over a 12-year span.
Like Flood, DiNardo is a product of New York City’s catholic leagues, having played and graduated from St. Francis Prep in Queens.

“It’s not just the Big Ten Network, but to have somebody like Gerry DiNarno, whose resume speaks for itself, in attendance … is exciting for me,’’ Flood said, “because Gerry DiNardo was someone who I heard about when I was going to school and when I became a faculty member (at St. Francis Prep).’’

DiNardo may have some strong ties with Flood, but the Big Ten Network analyst offered an honest assessment of the Scarlet Knights’ chances of competing in one of the nation’s strongest conferences next season.

“They certainly can compete,’’ DiNardo said shortly after interviewing Flood and touring the Rutgers football facilities Thursday afternoon. “Recently Ohio State and Michigan have recruited at an elite level. I don’t think there’s any secret about that. Those two schools have great history. Nebraska has great history, although that job has changed quite a bit because the landscape of recruiting has hurt them. And Penn State has great history. Those are four of the winningest programs in the history of college football. And then after those four Michigan State has been the best team. They’ve beaten the teams last year that historically have won national championships.

“So those four schools stand out in that four of them have great history and one has done it more recently. And then the rest are all competing, Rutgers included, and I think they’re all trying to find their niche in modern day college football. I think you can put Rutgers in the group with the rest of the teams.

“Not that they can’t beat the historic talent. I just think the way college football is built right now, Rutgers can compete with everybody in the Big Ten and the schools that have more resources and more history have, for the most part, stayed ahead of the game.’’

It was only one two-hour practice, but DiNardo offered his take on a quarterback competition that Flood earlier this week conceded will be the biggest decision he will make between now and the start of the 2014 season.
While senior Gary Nova, redshirt sophomore Blake Rankin, redshirt freshman Chris Laviano, fifth-year senior Mike Bimonte and redshirt freshman Devin Ray are all listed as co-starters, DiNardo left Rutgers thinking Nova and Laviano had a leg up on the competition.

“To me it looks like Gary Nova or Chris Laviano,’’ said DiNardo, who served as offensive coordinator for a Colorado team that won a national championship in 1990. “I know Nova obviously has the experience going into the season and that will bode well for him. I kind of thought Laviano looked really good. I came away thinking those two were pretty close. And they’re learning a new system, new terminology so that takes time and that probably plays into the older guy (Nova). But it seems like those two guys were pretty close to me based on one practice.’’

For DiNardo, Rutgers was the 10th leg on a 14-stop tour in a Big Ten that on July 1 will officially welcome the Scarlet Knights and Maryland into the newly expanded league. That’s also when the Big Ten Network will begin slotting Rutgers athletics teams, including football, into the nearly 1,000 sporting events the 24-hour channel covers.

According to its website, the Big Ten Network is in more than 52 million homes, including virtually every cable and satellite provider in the New Jersey/New York/Philadelphia markets.

DiNardo, who typically analyzes Big Ten football from the network’s Chicago studio, came away impressed not only with Flood’s personnel but with the tools with which the Scarlet skipper utilizes on the recruiting trail.

“You always want to improve facilities — no coach in the America is satisfied, and I’m sure there are things they can make better, but their facilities are good,’’ DiNardo said. “That’s not going to hold them back.’’
DiNardo, who served as head coach at Vanderbilt, LSU and Indiana from 1991-2004 (with one year in the defunct XFL in between), said Rutgers’ practice field is “probably better than most’’ Big Ten schools while its football facility, the Hale Center, is “probably middle’’ of the pack.

“Ohio State’s practice field is better than everybody,’’ DiNardo said. “Wisconsin practices inside its stadium every day. Rutgers is almost identical to Iowa. So no problem with their practice field.
“Football facility, Ohio State is better, Penn State is better, Michigan is better (but) they’re better than Northwestern, they’re better than Illinois, they’re better than Purdue. I do think it’s cool that everything — training table, academic facility, locker rooms – are right there (in the Hale Center). Especially the way the way the campus is organized I think it’s important that everything the athlete needs to do is in one facility. And I thought the stadium looked great. I think that really is a cool place, and I bet when it’s filled up rocking and rolling it’s fun.’’

About Keith Sargeant

Keith Sargeant is a graduate of Middlesex County College and Kean University. A Home News Tribune staff writer since August 1997, Keith has been covering Rutgers sports since 2000, serving as the Scarlet Knights' football beat writer since 2006.

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About the Author

Jerry CarinoJerry Carino has covered sports for the Gannett New Jersey newspapers since 1996 and has been on the college basketball beat since 2003. A native of Old Bridge, he also teaches journalism at Kean University.E-mail Jerry

Josh NewmanJosh Newman has worked for the Press since September 2004 and began covering Shore Conference sports full time in September 2006. He is a 2004 graduate of Springfield College with a degree in communications/sports journalism.E-mail Josh

Ryan DunleavyRyan Dunleavy has covered Rutgers athletics for more than a decade, dating back to his days as a student at his alma mater. He became New Jersey Press Media’s Rutgers women’s basketball beat writer in 2009 and Rutgers football beat writer in 2013. Since joining the staff in 2004, the Morris County native also has covered the NFL, MLB, NBA, the Somerset Patriots and high school sports.E-mail Ryan